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Leon's dragged from his sleep abruptly. It takes him a moment, but he registers his personal phone's ringtone and he shoots up, grabbing it and bringing it to his ear before his eyes even open.
"Hello?"
Chris stirs beside him, his arm tightening around Leon's waist. Leon pats his hand and blinks the sleep from his eyes.
"Leon.." Grace's voice comes through the speaker hoarsely and he flashes back to her crumpled form on the floor surrounded by debris, bleeding from her abdomen while he couldn't find them a way out. It effectively wakes him up the rest of the way.
"Grace. What's wrong?"
Chris groans in question. He can hear Grace's rough breathing through the phone.
"'M sorry, I.." she groans quietly, seemingly trying to gather her thoughts. "I'm.. super sick.. 's early, but.. can you take Emily to school?"
Leon lets out a breath, relieved to hear she's unhurt. He rubs Chris's wrist to indicate everything's alright, and his grip on Leon's waist loosens again as he likely falls back to sleep. He glances over at the alarm clock on his bedside table—it's 7:30am.
"Yeah. I'll be there ASAP."
"Thanks, Leon.. sorry for wakin' you.."
"No apologies needed, I gotcha. See you soon, alright?"
"Mhm.."
Leon hangs up and puts his phone back onto the bedside table, stretching his back out as he does. He lifts Chris' arm and gets out of bed, then heads to their closet to get some jeans and a t-shirt on. As he does, he goes through what he could tell from over the phone. Grace was definitely tired, exhausted even, in a way that seemed deeper than having been because she just woke up. Her voice was nasally, so her nose is stuffed, but she'd also sniffled a few times like it was running. She sounded somewhat pained as well, though likely not from a wound since she hadn't mentioned one. Good estimate, she probably has the flu.
He grabs a bag on his way out of the closet, makes a detour to plant a soft kiss to Chris' temple, and walks out of the room, making his way down to the kitchen. It's been a while since either of them have been sick, so he has to dig through the pantry for a minute until he finds a can of tomato soup. The best he can find in their medicine cabinet in terms of sickness is some cold medicine, but he grabs it anyway just in case Grace's is lacking. Since he'll be spending the whole day at their apartment, Leon grabs a shorter book from the bookshelf in the living room and puts it in his bag. He pulls on the new jacket he bought last time he and Chris went out, checks his pockets for his phone and wallet, grabs his Porsche's fob key, and leaves the house just ten minutes after receiving Grace's call.
Leon calls into work and takes one of his long built up vacation days while he drives. He speeds a bit since Emily has to be at school for 9:30, and successfully shaves the drive down from two hours to one and a half. Parking outside the building, Leon grabs his bag and gets out of the car, heading up to the front door. Grace buzzes him in after a moment and he takes the elevator up to their floor. Quiet jazz fills the space as he goes, quiet enough he could easily ignore it if he were talking to someone. He takes out his phone and opens his texts with Chris. Neither of them are any stranger to waking up without the other in bed with their line of work, but he hadn't left a note that he was coming here instead.
At Grace & Emily's for the day. Grace has the flu.
The elevator dings when the door opens to the silent hallway of the sixth floor of the building. Leon makes his way down to apartment 611 and knocks when he reaches it, trying to keep it quieter so it doesn't hurt Grace's head. He guesses she probably has a headache.
After a moment, the door opens, and Leon looks down to find Emily smiling up at him.
"Good morning!"
"Emily, I told you not to open the door," Grace mutters, coming closer to the door. Emily looks back into the apartment as she pushes it open further.
"It's Leon!"
Leon watches Grace wince and he leans down to pick Emily up with a gentle smile, hoping to keep her voice down. She giggles, holding onto his arm as he lifts her.
"Morning."
Grace waves to him, and Leon scans her over. The first thing he notes is that she should definitely still be in bed, since her legs are shaking under her. She looks rough, admittedly. Messy hair, tissue sticking out from one of her nostrils, squinting eyes, and her mouth is open so he can clearly hear the phlegm in her throat as she breathes. She's still in her pyjamas and she has a thin blanket hanging half off her shoulders. He steps in and pushes the door closed behind him with his foot.
"Thanks for this, I know I called early," she gets out, and Leon is surprised she's functioning. He shakes his head.
"It's nothing, really. I'm always available for you two," he shakes Emily a little to punctuate his sentence and she laughs again. It makes him smile. He sets her down and she rushes past Grace, back into the living room. Grace pats her head as she runs by.
"You're a lifesaver. She's been talking about her science presentation all week, I didn't want her to miss it."
"Well, we couldn't have that, could we?"
Leon toes off his shoes and starts ushering Grace into the kitchen, wanting to get her at least sitting down. The toaster is pulled out on the counter, and there's a loaf of bread still out. He closes it up and moves it back to the fridge as Grace drops herself on one of the chairs at the table.
"How's it been since you called?"
"Fell back asleep for like.. an hour," Grace leans her elbows on the table and cradles her head in her hands. "Emily woke me up again for breakfast. I'm dying," she groans. Leon smiles sympathetically and gently pats her head.
"You got meds?"
"Mhm. Bathroom, cabinet above the toilet."
"On it."
Leon heads to the bathroom down the hall and finds some flu medicine. It's the drowsy kind, but he thinks that will be better. She looks to be in the worst of it now, sleeping through it will be good. She seems tired anyway.
He brings it to her and fills a glass with water for her to wash it down, which she does thankfully.
"Um.. I'll probably be in bed all day, but you can stay here before picking her back up later.."
"Obviously." She raises a brow at him as he leans back against the counter. He looks back at her like it's obvious, because it is. "I'm not abandoning you all day. I'm here to help, beck and call."
She pouts at him, eyes squinting like she's looking at a cute puppy.
"You're the best."
"Eh, I try." Leon shrugs and gives her a smirk.
Emily comes into the kitchen with her backpack and grabs her lunch bag off the table to stuff it into her bag. She zips it up hastily and looks up at Leon.
"We have to go now."
"Yes, ma'am," Leon gives her a small salute and she goes out to the foyer to get her shoes and jacket on. He follows, getting his boots back on as she zips up her coat.
Grace leans against the doorway into the kitchen and Emily hops over to her, giving her a tight hug. Grace pats her back and her head, hugging her back best she can in her current state. Leon picks up Emily's bag and holds it over his shoulder as he opens the door.
"Bye Em, have a good day at school, okay?"
"Mhm, I'll tell you all about it when I come home."
"Can't wait."
Emily rushes back to the door and blows her a kiss with a quick, "Love you!" just before starting to skip down the hall. Grace smiles. She gets out a gravelly "Love you," back, then waves to Leon as he shuts the door behind them with a smile of his own.
Emily is antsy during the whole elevator ride, and she resumes her skipping towards his car when they get out. Leon's never been a morning person, even his job hasn't been able to change that, but it's hard not to be infected by her excited energy. She bounces on her feet next to the car, impatiently waiting for him to reach it too.
"Can I sit in the front seat?"
"Last I checked, you're still a bit too young for that," he responds, opening the back door and dropping her bag in.
"Pleaseeee." He looks at her and finds her standing still now, hands clasped in front of her, blinking her big, green eyes up at him. He sighs, glances back at the apartment building, then looks back at her.
"Maybe on the way home."
"Yay! Thank you, Leon!" She all but dives into the backseat and gets herself buckled in with a large smile, and he laughs as he shuts the door and gets back in the driver's seat.
On the drive, Emily happily tells him all about her presentation on dinosaurs. She even makes a joke about him being friends with them, which he fakes offence at while she laughs at him. He asks which one was her favourite, she tells him it was the stegosaurus. He tells her his wedding ring has crushed fossils in it and passes it to her for the rest of the ride, and she takes it enthusiastically, asking if she can bring it in for her presentation.
"I hate to let you down, but Chris would kill me if I gave a bunch of eight-year-olds my ring." He sees her pout at him in the rear-view mirror, but she nods. She puts the ring on her finger and drops her jaw, her disappointment forgotten.
"You have huge fingers." He laughs.
When he gets back into the apartment, ring safely back on his finger, he finds Grace has gone back to her room. He refills the glass of water she left on the kitchen table and peaks his head in quietly. The room is clean but lived in, and the curtains are closed, but light filters through them anyway. Grace has already fallen back asleep after buzzing him back in. He leaves the glass on the bedside table, next to a framed photo of Emily on a swing, and heads back out to the living room. Leon takes his jacket off and folds it over the back of the reclining chair, then drops himself onto the couch.
Over the next few hours, he watches some Law and Order on his "grandpa leon" profile on their tv, checking on Grace every half hour or so. Sometimes she's barely conscious, but she mostly sleeps the whole time. He gets her some painkillers when she asks and gets her more water whenever her glass is dwindling, but overall she seems to be sleeping as peacefully as her sick body can allow.
After finishing a few episodes, Leon turns to reading the book he brought. It's a mystery, one he doesn't remember buying and he's sure he hasn't read yet. It doesn't sound like a masterpiece when he reads the back, just a classic whodunit, but that's fine. He was only hoping for a day-read. A couple chapters in, Grace's bedroom door opens and he hears her feet padding across the floor. He looks up when she comes into the living room, clearly barely awake, and he sits up.
"Hey, what do you need?"
She only mumbles and comes further into the room, plopping down heavily on the couch next to him. She drops her head back and smacks her lips a few times, blinking slowly. Leon smiles at her and gets up to get her another glass of water, just in case. He puts it on the table next to the couch in arm's reach for when she asks for it as he sits back down. He watches her for a second, and she just blearily stares up at the ceiling.
"Just go back to sleep," he says quietly. He picks his book back up and keeps reading. After a few seconds, Grace rolls her neck and drops her head onto his shoulder. Leon winces at how hard she does it, but she doesn't have any reaction.
Man, she's really out of it, huh?
"Wha's dat?" she mumbles.
"Whodunit. Called The Sapphire Lady." She nods against him.
"Wha's hap..happening?"
"Well so far, we've got a world-famous detective, a butler, the Lady of the manor, and her neighbour. They called the detective in because of mysterious happenings around the manor, and he's been experiencing some of them while investigating the grounds."
She nods again and he glances at her, finding her eyes already glued shut again. She's quiet for long enough that she thinks she's passed out again until she asks another question.
"Sound.. can you," she sniffles, "read it out loud..?"
"Sure, Grace."
He's sure she's not aware enough to fully follow along, but Leon turns back to the beginning of the chapter he's on anyway and starts reading aloud quietly. His voice and the turning pages are the only sounds in the apartment. It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep again, he feels it when she basically slumps against his side. He imagines it must be uncomfortable with the way her neck is crooked, but he doesn't want to disturb her. He goes back to reading in his head when she starts to snore.
A few chapters later, the plot has picked up a bit, and Grace starts to stir. Leon pauses and looks down at her, watching as her face scrunches up and groans as she somehow manages to drag herself up, apart from his arm. She looks upset by her own intervention of her sleep, her eyes barely open as she glares into nothing.
"Hey, you alright?"
"Mmh," she grunts, like she meant to say something but her mouth didn't even try. After a moment, she tries again, "Neck hurts."
"No kidding, I can't imagine my shoulder is exactly as soft as a cloud," Grace shows no indication that she picked up on his joke, squinting and swivelling her head as if she can see anything with her eyes nearly closed. "You want some water?"
"Nu-uh. Tired," she mumbles. He thinks she means "still asleep", looking at her.
"Alright," he dog-ears his page and pushes himself up with a soft grunt, "Come on, lay out." He has to all but manhandle her into laying across the couch, as her body seems insistent on staying limp and out of her own control. Her legs end up curled with her toes dug in between the cushions, the light blanket she'd had around her shoulders now draped over the rest of her. He lifts her head gently as he sits back down, then lowers it onto his thigh.
Chris has told him almost too many times how comfortable his legs are to lay on, and the arm of the couch is too angled to be good for laying on. Grace seems to agree on him being comfortable, because she shuffles a little, but settles almost immediately with a thankful hum. Leon hums back to her and picks his book up again.
"Further?"
"Yep."
"Wha' happen'd..?"
"Gathering clues. The jewelry was stolen a chapter ago. The butler and the gardener look the most suspicious right now."
"Aaalway..s the butler.." Her voice gains inflection for once today, making her sound amused. Leon huffs.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Keep reading?"
"Mhm."
So he does. Grace listens, likely not taking anything in, for about ten minutes before she falls asleep again. Leon smiles when he hears a tinny snore.
When he's on the next chapter, Grace whines. Leon looks down at her, expecting her to be waking up again, but she's not. She mumbles incoherently and whimpers this time, a small sound that tugs at his heart. He frowns down at her and puts his book down.
"Grace?" he whispers. Nothing, she's too sick for him to wake gently. She's too sick to be having to deal with nightmares too.
It's been a while since he's had to comfort someone like this—Sherry hasn't had nightmares around him in decades. Rose gets her comfort from Chris whenever she's visiting. If Emily ever gets nightmares, she has Grace. And Chris' nightmares, he always wakes up from them himself, which wakes Leon up, and they deal with it together. He's out of practice with this.
He carefully places his hand on her head and she shifts, pressing her head against him. She's still whimpering, and her face is all scrunched up again.
"Hey, Grace," he starts stroking her hair and hopes that helps, softening his voice as he talks to her. "You're alright. You're safe, kid."
She whines, shifting around again. She turns over so she's facing him and curls further into his side. He keeps petting her hair, keeping his eyes on her while he does. She frowns in her fitful sleep and she looks so young, which he guesses she is, compared to him, but it makes him angry at how they met all over again. All that she's been through, and still came out the other side, strong and brave and caring to boot. He wishes he could have done more to protect her during everything. She's been doing well though, better than he had after his first stint in Raccoon City. A little selfishly, he hopes he has something to do with that.
He guesses he might, because after another minute or so of petting her hair and whispering whatever comforting words he can think of, she hums softly. Her face smooths out, looking peaceful once more despite the redness from the heat her body is currently over-generating. He nods, thankful that his lacklustre comfort helped.
Leon goes back to reading aloud. Maybe his voice will subconsciously keep the nightmares away.
When Grace wakes up again, it's much smoother. She hums, squeezes her eyes shut against the light bleeding in from the closed blinds and the lamp next to them, turns over again, and digs her face into his thigh as she tries to keep herself sleeping. Leon chuckles and she groans in response. She slowly opens her eyes and when she seems to adjust, she looks up at him. It takes a second, but her eyes widen a little and she pushes herself up, rubbing her eyes.
"Sorry, Leon," she mutters, voice still woven with sleep. Leon shakes his head.
"It's fine, you needed the rest. Feeling any better?"
"Ugh, wish you didn't ask," she frowns and drags her hands down her face. He laughs, dog-earing his page again and setting the book down.
"Well you're a little more coherent, so that's a good sign." He stands up, patting her knee as he does. "You're on the up-and-up."
"I hope."
Leon heads into the kitchen and grabs the can of tomato soup he brought from home as well as some bread, cheese slices, and butter. he gets out a pot and pan and starts getting everything prepared.
"We gotta get some food into ya," he raises his voice so she can hear him from the living room. He hears her whine and it makes him huff. She acts like a moody teenager when she's sick.
"'M not hungry."
"I know, kiddo."
Ten or so minutes later, Leon serves Grace with a warm bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese, bringing it to her on a lap table. She takes it with a thankful nod, even though she’s staring at the food uneasily. Leon sits back down next to her and pouts dramatically.
"I know I'm no Chris in the kitchen, but it can't be that bad."
Grace gives him an unamused look. He smiles back at her and moves the still half-full glass onto her tray.
"Than' you, Leon." She picks up her spoon and stirs it in the bowl for a few seconds. Leon watches. The clinking sound fills the room. He sighs gently.
"Your stomach will thank you for the food. Can't get better if you're running on fumes, Grace." She purses her lips. "You don't have to finish it either, just get as much as you can down. I promise it'll help."
Grace sighs and slowly takes a spoonful of soup. She blows on it longer than necessary, but does manage to get it into her mouth and swallow. It seems to set her off, because she quickly takes two more. He's not surprised, she'd called him at 7:30 in the morning and hasn't had anything except for water and flu medicine all day.
"Don't overdo it," he reminds her.
Finishing swallowing another spoonful, she snarks back, "Don't overfeed me."
He tries not to snort at that and only somewhat succeeds.
Grace ends up being able to get nearly all of the soup down, as well as half the sandwich, which she sincerely compliments him on with her mouth still full. He takes the compliment with a bright smile and doesn't tell her how hard he had to work to keep from burning it for her—he wants a good reputation for cooking with at least one of his girls. He takes the tray from her and returns to the kitchen to put away all the leftovers.
"Think you're up for taking a shower?" he asks, leaning against the doorframe back into the living room with his arms crossed over his chest. Grace pouts at him.
"I don't smell." She pauses. "Do I?"
Leon smiles and shakes his head.
"No, but it'll make you feel less gross and help clear your sinuses."
"Since when are you good at dealing with sickness," she asks flatly.
"Since always. I'm practically a nurse."
"Suree," she teases, rolling her eyes. She winces when she does and reaches up to hold her head. "Ugh.. yeah, I can handle that."
"Get on it then, I'll do the dishes and make you some tea?"
"That sounds great, thank you." After a second, she leans forward, pouting at him again. "Can you make the ginger one, please?" He lets out a puff of air from his nose and nods.
"Sure, Grace. Go shower."
She grins at him, gives him a sweet "thank you," then gets up and heads back to her room.
Leon goes back into the kitchen and gets started on the dishes he made, as well as the ones already in the sink, he assumes from her and Emily's dinner last night. Once he's done all those, he sets to searching the cupboards for teabags. Grace turns out to have quite the collection, and it takes him a minute to find the ginger she asked for. He grabs two mugs and makes them both a cup.
Grace returns soon when he's back in the living room, looking at least a little refreshed, and drops herself back onto the couch. Leon hands her her cup of tea and Grace takes a whiff before she sips it. She sinks back into the cushions with a pleased smile on her face, holding the mug close to her chest like it's her only source of warmth in a snowstorm. Leon takes a sip of his own and hums. He hasn't had this one before, he likes it. He puts his mug down on the side table and grabs his book again.
"Out loud?" Grace asks in a small, but not reserved, voice, reminding him of a young Sherry. Leon nods, small smile on his face, and starts to read aloud again. They're nearing the end already, and personally he's suspecting the neighbour of being the culprit, even though he's supposedly "gone missing".
Grace listens to him read contentedly for a while as she drinks her tea. After a bit she holds her cup out, and Leon takes it without pausing his reading, placing it next to his. She thanks him quietly and he nods back to her instead of stopping. Grace sidles closer, up against his side again, and lays her head on his shoulder. She tucks her hands in, arms locking around his. Leon shoots her a concerned glance, but she seems more comfortable than the last time she'd done it, so he goes back to reading and leaves her to it.
By the time they've reached the detective's big speech to build up to the reveal, Grace is softly snoring in his ear. He smiles slightly. Grace is so alive all the time that he doesn't really need to be reminded, but the small snores and her breath fanning against his chin works to soothe that part of him that's always worrying. He checks his watch, careful not to jostle her.
Hmm, another hour until I have to go pick up Emily.
He's already feeling bad about possibly having to wake Grace up to leave her alone again. He hopes she'll wake herself up again before he has to, so he'll be able to usher her back to bed. He sighs softly, looking down at her.
"Just keep resting, Grace, I gotcha covered."
She's asleep so he doesn't expect a response, but after a second, she mumbles back at him.
"Mnh.. thanks, mom…" There's no sarcasm in her tone that he picks up on, so he smiles at her, a small huff escaping him.
"'Course. It's what I'm here for."
He ends up being wrong. It was the butler.